If the first time you saw all those bags you thought the LEGO Millennium Falcon was big, it's…
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There are a couple more secret models, but we will show those to you at a later date.

First, following the success of the previous series, there are more new minifigs sold in separate packaging. I'm not a fan of the minifigs with facial expressions—I still prefer the iconic old school ones, with smiley faces—but some of these are neat.

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Their Indiana Jones sets have been replaced by a generic Egyptian adventure theme—which sucks, because there are no Nazis to destroy—but there's a lot of models from Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean and, of course, Star Wars. Their reduced Millennium Falcon would be a good option for those who couldn't buy the huge 8,000-piece Millennium Falcon. Talking huge sets, there are no announcements about these yet, but something tells me that we will see them soon.

Star Wars

The Lego Star Wars 2011 catalog is too heavy on the bloody prequels. Except the Falcon—which includes all the heroes and Darth Vader for $140—there's only an effing Ewoks set called The Endor Battle Pack ($30), with a tree, an Imperial Scout and two damn furry dwarfs.

The rest is all Sith Infilwhatevers, a Republic Frigate with some clowns, and even a set full of Jars Jars, obviously designed to give to really stinking kids as a punishment.

The assfog is strong in this one but at least there's material to create anything you want.

Kingdoms

Lego Kingdoms—formerly Lego Castle—is a little bit scarce this year. The best set is probably the Mill Village Raid—at $70, the most expensive of the series—and the King's Carriage Ambush ($50). But no spectacular castle of any kind, which is sad.

Pharoah's Quest

These sets seem to replace the old Indy models, without Dr. Jones kicking Nazi's ass—which sucks. Their are more Egypt meet Stargate meet Zombieland than Indy, but the $100 Scorpion Pyramid—including a giant badass scorpion—seems like a lot of fun.

Technic

The Technic sets keep shrinking—I miss the giant models, even while they were so expensive. The Rescue Helicopter ($40) looks great, as does the Backhoe Loader ($60) and the Bucket Truck ($50), but my favorite is the $20 Off-Roader.

Atlantis

I would have loved Lego if they scrapped their Atlantis line and instead announced the Lego Cousteau line. With the Calypso, and underwater scenery and bases and helicopters and bathyspheres. That or Lego Zissou.

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OK, I shall calm down now. Lego seems to be obsessed with ninjas this year, and they will be selling a barrage of sets under the Ninjago flag, which includes a series of three games called Spinners, in which you battle different characters using cards over the (optional) $50 Spinjitzu Dojo.

The sets are pretty nice themselves, like the $120 Fire Temple—which includes a dragon—and the $60 Skeleton Monster Truck. Because, as you know, infernal demons used to drive monster trucks in 15th Century Japan.

Bricks and More

These are my favorite Lego sets this year. Bricks and more. They feel like classic Lego, with pure bricks and basic colors. It's a nice break from the complexity or elaborated pieces of the rest of their lines at lower prices.

Creator

If you are not familiar with the Creator line, it's great to explore your own imagination. This year there are a few mini models—like the cute $6 Mini Digger and Mini Plans—and other bigger sets, like my favorites: The $40 Cool Cruiser and, the best of them all, the $40 Lighthouse Island—which can be easily integrated in Lego City.

City

The number one seller in the history of Lego comes loaded with models. That includes a renewed version of one of the perennial classics: The Police Station, which comes with 783 pieces for $100. In fact, this year is heavy on police sets, including the $40 Police Boat, the $50 Mobile Police Unit and even a $13 Police Dog Unit. My other favorites are their new sea pieces, like the $90 Harbor, the $40 PowerBoat Transporter, or the humble $5 Speed Boat.

For some reason, they included some space stuff this year, although it's not as spectacular as their previous NASA-related efforts. Still, their $70 Space Center looks like a good one to get.

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Alien Conquest

While the Lego Alien Conquest 2011 have a 50s UFO flavor and some bits of the old Lego Space line, I can't help but to look down at them. The reason may be that the 70s Lego Space is embedded in my DNA, but the biggest cause is the design. Things like their $20 Tripod Invader, $60 Alien Mothership and $90 Earth Defense are charming, but they can't compete with the incredible fresh design of the classic Space line, which is current still today.

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Pirates of the Caribbean

The same happens with Pirates of the Caribbean. They are not as good as the classic Pirates. They are not bad at all, mind you. The Queen Anne's Revenge—1,097 pieces for $120—is quite good, as is the $80 Whitecap Bay and the $100 Black Pearl , but they are a a franchise. It's like a Taco Bell burrito: The "beefy" substance is just not really beef.

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Racers

I wish the Racers could actually be radiocontrolled around the house because I like the idea of RC cars destroying each other just to build them again. The new models are all good, at $6 each. There would be bigger, licensed ones when Cars 2 comes out.

Hero Factory

Let me tell you one thing: This ain't no ninjas! What the hell is this plastic crap? It's not even Lego. I mean, it is Lego and you can combine the pieces with "normal" Lego pieces (to great results, in hands of expert builders) but these are just horrible. I guess the kids today like it and they are only $8 a piece, but these should be banned from this dimension.

Duplo

This year I bought my two nieces Lego for the first time—they better get used to it. They were three huge Duplo sets—the biggest available—and a couple other little ones. Just getting them made me happy, because they brought the memories of me and my siblings being little crawlers building absurd stuff with these huge colorful blocks. If you have little kids or have drooling relatives of any age, these new models will be good for them. I like My First Supermarket ($20), My First Zoo ($25) and My First Fire Station ($30), but you can also initiate them in the zen of Pooh with Winnie's House ($30), which looks quite nice.